Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor's Global Anticommunist Crusade

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There is power in a union. Not only the power to secure pay raises and employee benefits, but the power to bring economies to a screeching halt and overthrow governments. Recognizing this, in the late twentieth century, the US government sought to control labor movements abroad as part of the Cold War contest for worldwide supremacy. To subvert overseas unions, Washington found an enthusiastic partner in the AFL-CIOs anticommunist officials, who for decades expended incredible energy trying to block revolutionary ideologies and militant class consciousness from taking hold in the workers movements of Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Blue-Collar Empire tells the sweeping story of the AFL-CIOs global anticommunist crusadeand the devastating consequences for workers at home and abroad.

Author Bio

Jeff Schuhrke is a labor historian, educator, journalist, and union activist who teaches at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies, SUNY Empire State College in New York City. He is a frequent contributor to In These Times and Jacobin, and his scholarship has been published in Labor: Studies in Working-Class History and Diplomatic History.